Dr. Carlton P. Byrd, When God Says No

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] let's get right in the word today what do you say everybody if you will take your Bibles and go with me to the book of Romans and we're gonna go to one chapter and one verse Romans chapter 8 verse number 28 and without even turning we should know this text Romans chapter 8 verse number 28 Romans chapter 8 verse number 28 if you haven't let me hear you say Amen the Word of God says and we know that all things work together for what everybody come on talk to me work together for what everybody for good to them that love the Lord and are the called according to his purpose let's say it again and all things work together for what everybody good to them who love the Lord and are the called according to his purpose my subject cuz we could preach this text many different ways but my subject today is entitled when God says no father blessing us now as we go into your word forgive me of my sins hide us behind your cross when the appeal time comes moved by your power and sprinkle out your grace speak this word to your people this day in Jesus name let everyone say Amen and amen one of the things that we have preached proclaim declared and testified over and over again is that God will hear and answer prayer earlier in our worse experience I share with you again that God will answer prayer we quote ask and it shall be given seek and ye shall find knock and the door shall be opened unto you we recite and this is the confidence we have when approaching God that whatever we ask we know we have we caught 2nd chronicles 7:14 if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven and I will hear Hill their land with great enthusiasm we quote and recite great euphemisms about prayer we say with much prayer there's much what everybody we say little prayer and little what no prayer and no power we often tell each other you got a push you've got to pray until something happens we used to sing a song called Jesus on the main line tell him what you want call him up and tell him what you want now back in the day the young people don't know anything about this we used to make collect calls and so in this song where was a verse that said call collects heal accepts tell him what you want does anybody know what I'm talking about we get excited when we talk about prayer we testify I serve a prayer answering God I serve a problem solving God I serve a heart fixing God I serve a pain relieving god I serve a way making God I serve a cancer killing God I serve a job giving God I serve a marriage saving God we get excited about prayer do I have a witness in this place we read the Bible and we reminded of the prayers that people prayed and God said yes yes to Daniel in the lion's den yes to three Hebrew boys in the fiery furnace yes to the woman with the issue of blood yes to the crippled man at the Pool of Bethesda yes to Jarius and his daughter yes to the blind man in John chapter 9 in our own lives we have seen God say yes to our prayer requests for healing our prayer please for employment our prayer petitions for the restoration of a marriage the birth of a child money to get in school helped to pass a test and when God says yes we jump we shouts we clap our hands we say Amen because we serve a prayer answering God do I have a witness in this race but what do we do when God says no what do we do when we pray in the name of Jesus pray in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost and God says no what do we do when we touch and agree with other believers and we bind Satan in the name of Jesus but God says no what do we do when we have fasted and prayed been anointed with oil kept late on of hands but yet God says no what do we do when we are pray for healing from cancer changed our diet eat the right things exercise believe expected but God says no we study for the test we didn't study on the Sabbath we practice problems win over examples we prayed for an A but God didn't answer if an why are some people healed and some people aren't I mean as the pastor I must admit I have prayed for some people and God said yes but then I say it prayed the same prayer for other people and God said no can I get real as a pastor it gets tough sometimes it gets painful to visit church members who truly love the Lord and I see them suffering and they are unable to do anything about their condition I pray for their healing I even tell people if you don't believe in the healing power of God I need you to clear out the room because we don't need distracting spirits in this room I pray for their hear their healing I pray for their healing but God stills says no but then I'm baffled because I'll pray for somebody else where it's gonna take a miracle for them to survive but then God says yes why are some people healed and others who are just as deserving not healed but then as they're seventy of an inscription I was taught not to question God because we hear it all the time God knows what's best God doesn't make mistakes God is sovereign so don't you question God but yet if we're real today and we pull off the cover if we're honest with ourselves we do question God and before I give him the text let me help somebody out right now somebody's gonna get mad with me with a statement but i'ma say it anyhow it's all right to question God's let us make it somebody uncomfortable but it's okay to question God it's okay because God knows everything and God knows our questions before we even ask them not asking does not mean that they're not there it only means that we're in denial and we're hiding them pretending they're not there but they're there God knows they're there and it is okay friends am I too why it's okay to question God because there's a difference between questioning God and doubting God when we doubt we're saying I'm not sure I believe when we question we're saying I believe I just don't understand Bell says I'm not sure if you're real or true questions say I know you're real and true I just don't understand why you do what you do another reason why it's okay to question God is because God can handle our questions if God can handle our sins God can handle our questions if God can handle our disobedience God can handle our questions if God can handle our broken promises then God can handle our questions if God can handle our mess then God can handle our questions if God can handle everything we're not and still love us in spite of us then surely God can handle our questions can I be honest with you all today faith is not faith unless it has some questions faith is not getting everything you pray for every time it doesn't take faith to believe in God if God does everything we want God to do when we want God to do it in the way we want God to do it faith means we have some questions but faith means believing with questions faith means that when God says yes we believe and when God says oh we still believe and when we don't know what God is saying we still believe faith means believing when we understand and believing when we don't understand faith means believing in the bright daylight and believing in the darkness midnight faith means believing when the sun is shining in the sky but it also is believing in the midst of the storm faith is believing when the water is clear and sparkling but it's also believing when the water is muddy and murky faith his job declaring though he me yet well I trusted him faith in tobacco saying though the fig tree doesn't blossom and no fruit is on the vines yet will I still rejoice in the Lord I will exalt in the God of my salvation faith is Jesus saying in the Garden of Gethsemane nevertheless not my will but thy will be done faith is Jesus hanging on the cross even though he questions God my God why has thou forsaken me faith means we have questions but faith also means believing with questions so somebody wants to know pastor bird how do you keep your faith in God when God says no and your questions are not answered well I'm gonna tell you like the old folks used to tell me you just have to trust God now I believe the paul wrote these letters to the new testament church in the order that he did for reason I believe there's a reason why Paul's journey was in Rome before Corinth I believe there's a reason Romans comes before Corinthians I believe there's a reason Paul writes Romans 8:28 before he wrote 2nd Corinthians 12 because I believe he had to say something in Romans 8 before he says something in first Corinthians 2nd Corinthians 12 now in Romans 8 he says and we know that all things work together for what everybody good to them who love the Lord and are the called according to his what purpose but I want you to take your Bibles quickly I'm almost done take your Bibles quickly and go to 2nd Corinthians and go to 2nd Corinthians and I want you to go to chapter 12 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 but I want you to go to verse number 7 I do believe there is a reason Romans 8 comes before 2nd Corinthians 12 quickly go to Romans go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 and go to verse number 7 SEC Corinthians 12 verse 7 if you haven't let me hear you say Amen all right the word says Paul unless I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh the messenger of Satan to buffett me lest I should be exalted above measure for this thing I besought the Lord thrice in other words father saying I prayed three times for God to remove this thorn that it might depart from me but look what he says God said and he said unto me my grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in weakness most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities hallelujah that the power of Jesus Christ may rest upon me therefore Paul says I take pleasure in infirmities like appreciate all right there I take pleasure in infirmities I take pleasure in reproaches I take pleasure in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christ's sake for when I am weak then I am what everybody now it's second Corinthians twelve quickly Paul begins this chapter by talking about a spiritual experience when he was shown heaven in vision he didn't know whether the experience was in body or outer body but in vision he has an experience Paul says that to keep him from becoming conceited to keep him from getting the big head a thorn in the flesh a messenger from Satan was sent to torment him now Paul took this thorn hallelujah he took it to God in prayer not once not twice but three times Paul prayed Paul pleaded Paul petition Paul agonized with God God take this thorn from me but three times God said no when Paul and Silas are in jail they prayed and they sang so powerfully that the earth shook the prison doors flew open their chains fell off but yet when Paul asked God God removed this thorn God says no God said no to Paul's prayer requests and instead he says my grace is sufficient why would God tell not Paul no and then turn around and talk about grace I believe that God is reminding Paul that he should be more concerned with his spiritual health than his physical well-being why is God focused on spiritual power during physical pain how is spiritual power perfected in weakness the answer to this question gives us better insight as to why God said no to remove the thorn in the first place think about it when do we pray the most do we pray more when we're happy and things are going our way and the sun is shining and we have no worries I mean we get blessed with money blessed with the house Brussels car and we just pray a bread bread no no or do we pray more when we're suffering when we've got major problems when we've got questions and we need answers and we don't know what to do and God is telling Paul and God is telling us today that when we are weakened by this life that's when we're strongest because that's when we rely on the Lord I would never know that he's a provider if I've never been broke I would never know he's a healer unless I've been sick when we're going through the trouble that's when we pray more that's when we depends on God more so God says no Paul I'm not gonna remove that thorn because it's when you're in your pain when you're going through it that's when you learn to best depend on me how many testimonies have you heard people tell of a time in which their time lives were going great and they just decided to pray more and everything just got better I haven't heard many testimonies like that but I've heard countless testimonies a people whose lies were in a mess and they decided to turn to the Lord to depend on the Lord to rely on the Lord and when they turn to the Lord everything in their life began to change and I believe I've got a witness in this place that knows when you surrender to the Lord things change won't God do it is God not able don't get it twisted it doesn't mean that they were miraculously healed or completely freed of their situations but they knew that God now was in control and they began to depend on him and so sometimes God says no to our prayers no to removing the thorns in our lives because he knows what's best for us and all things work together for good but I want to share something else before I sodaro remember now Paul prays God says no God instead says my grace is sufficient why grace the Lord could have said my love is sufficient he could have said my peace is sufficient he could have said my will is sufficient but why does God say my grace is sufficient well you got to remember what grace is grace is the unmerited goodness of God grace is what God does for us without our asking y'all don't hear what I'm saying you see we ask for blessings we asked for forgiveness we asked for peace we asked for a car we asked for a house we asked for mate but grace is what God gives us without asking because God is good when God says no God is saying I'll give you what you need without you asking for it so instead of giving you what you want I'm gonna give you what you need God doesn't give us what we want when we ask God gives us what we need and so to say yes sometimes would bring us harm we don't foresee because gods getting you ready better ready for something better and we know that all things work together for good but not only that sometimes we get discouraged in prayer by thinking God has said no when in fact God has said nothing at all I have learned my friends that delay is not denial wait is an answer God often delays his answer to us to teach us patience and build our faith I've learned that sometimes God says yes sometimes God says no sometimes God says slow and sometimes God says you need to grow but we know that all things work together for good and because God knows what's best and he knows what's best for our good even when you don't know what to ask and even when you're not ready for the answer God's grace is sufficient and God will take care of you so I preached this sermon not just for your ears but for my ears too I preached this sermon not just for you to do you today but as your pastor I'm preaching to myself today I wonder why Lord in the past month we've had all these deaths at the Oakwood University Church and sometimes it can begin to weigh you down and I have to now preach to myself and I have to tell myself that God says sometimes it's not yes but sometimes it's nope but he says my grace is sufficient we don't know why our loved one has died but we know God is gonna take care of us we don't know why we lost our job but God is gonna take care of us we don't know why our marriage relationship fell apart but God is going to take care of us we don't know what's gonna happen to our children but we know God's gonna take care of us we don't know why God won't heal us but we know God's gonna take care of us we don't know where the money is gonna come from to pay our bills but we do know God's gonna take care of us we don't know where God says no but we know God's go take care of us we don't know what the future holds but we do know who owns the future and we know God is gonna take care of us and we know that all things work together for good to them who love the Lord and the called according to his purpose I once was young but now I'm old but I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread if God be for us who can be against us and we know that all things work together for good - devil of the Lord another code according to his purposes fret not thyself because of evildoers neither be thou envious of the workers of iniquity because God will cut them down like the grass and we know that all things work together for good to them who love the Lord so when God says no I'll trust you when God says slow I'll trust you we God says buddy bird you gotta grow trust you so in your life you might have to question him but you still have got to trust you you may not understand but you gotta trust him yo folk were right God is too wise to make mistakes God is too right to be wrong [Music] thank you very much for tuning in to this week's breath of life broadcast we hope and pray that you've been blessed by dr. Byrd's inspirational message if you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety please feel free to visit us at WWF of Life TV or call us at two five six nine two nine six four six zero [Applause] [Music] [Applause] our Miami Revival was a special treat truly the Holy Spirit was in the place as over 100 individuals were baptized one of these persons who was baptized was an old classmate of mine Rene Castillo I hadn't seen Rene in over 30 years but when the appeal was made for baptism Rene's surrendered his life to the Lord and was baptized every word that man said man is just every time he'd opened his mouth I'd have an epiphany every time he said something I already knew it but I had Berrien that it was like almost like relearning it and I'm like I know that I know that I know that he did say something it's just been going over and over and my in my head he says Lord I hide your word in my heart so that I don't sin against state [Music] I I feel grateful because I brought one of my sons for two days and he actually enjoyed it I didn't want to push it on him you know it is my responsibility according to the Word of God to be the leader the spiritual leader of my household and I have not I'm so grateful that Rene had the opportunity to renew his relationship with the Lord Renee's story makes us mindful that the work of evangelism with stores and strengthens individuals and families to help breath of life continue its mission of spreading this wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ please share a gift with us today make your tax-deductible give payable to breath of life by mail at breath of life p.o box five nine six zero Huntsville Alabama three five eight one four give us a call the numbers - five six nine - nine six four six zero or you can visit us online at

Channel: Breath of Life TV

Views: 18,338

Rating: 4.8245616 out of 5

Keywords: Adventist, Byrd, Breath of Life, Preaching, Dr. Byrd, Love, Seventh-day Adventist, Adventism, Jesus Christ, Sermon, SDA, TV, God, Religious, Worship, prayer, pray for, faith, blessings, church, devotion

Id: FHGXCqWg8cE

Length: 27min 56sec (1676 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 17 2020